This poem came out of the April 5, 2022 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompt from dialecticdreamer and siberian_skys. It also fills the "Vedriti (Slovenian): To shelter from the rain either literally or metaphorically." square in my 4-1-22 card for the Untranslatable Words fest, and the "Ace Verse" square in my 4-4-22 card for the Genderplay Bingo "AU" fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with fuzzyred. It is a crossover between Polychrome Heroics and Schrodinger's Heroes.


"Vedriti"

[Saturday, December 3, 2016]

The Tef gave a horrendous
gurgling, choking noise and
then blurped out a young boy.

He looked Hispanic with
warm-toned skin, brown eyes,
and short, wavy dark hair.

He was thin and wiry,
with knobby wrists and
too-large hands sticking
out from his long sleeves.

He wore at least two shirts
under a black winter coat
with a mismatched scarf
wrapped around his neck.

He looked about thirteen,
if that, maybe twelve.

The boy was swearing
up a storm in Spanish and
staring wildly around the room.

Well, that wasn't good.

"You're safe here," Alex said.
"You just traveled through
the Teflon Tesseract.
Welcome to Texas."

"Texas?" the boy yelped.
At least he spoke English.
"I was in Los Angeles!"

"Okay, what were you
doing in Los Angeles
right before you landed
here?" Alex asked him.

The boy looked aside.
"Nothin' much," he said.

"The more we know,
the more we can help
you," Alex pointed out.

He sighed. "I was keeping
watch, that's my job, and
some loco negro threw
a super-gizmo at us.
Then I landed here."

"Super-gizmo," Alex said,
turning to Ash. "That term
sounds familiar, doesn't it?"

Ash nodded. "Terramagne."

"Entanglement must have
pulled him here," said Alex.

"Then that means there
must be a connection
somewhere," said Ash.

Kay took a long look at
their visitor, then nodded.

"Your name is Juan Carlos,
isn't it?" Kay asked the boy.

With an ominous clicking sound,
he flicked open a carraca knife.
"Por cojones! How could you
know that?" he demanded.

"We met ... not you exactly, but
a different version of you, during
an earlier trip here," said Kay. "I'm
Kay; my friends are Alex and Ash."

Then she looked at Alex for help.

"Juan Carlos, you mentioned
a super-gizmo," said Alex. "Well,
this place, the Tef, is like that. It
kind of makes a hole in space."

"That means sometimes things
or people fall through from where
they were to here," Ash added.

"Mierda," Juan Carlos muttered.
"Now what'm I supposed to do?"

Alex and Ash exchanged a look.
That wasn't going to be simple.

"We'll do our best to get you home,"
Alex said carefully, "but it may not
be easy. Clearly you don't come
from the version of Terramagne
that we know, so finding yours
could be more challenging."

"No way," Juan Carlos snapped.
"I'm not going back there, and you
can't make me! I've been trying
to get out of el barrio for years."

"Esta bien," Kay assured him.
"You don't have to go back if you
don't feel safe there. We'll find
somewhere else for you instead."

"I can stay here?" Juan Carlos said,
perking up. "That would be cool."

Kay shook her head. "That would
be out of one barrio into another, more
or less. The Tef is a trouble magnet."

"Oh," Juan Carlos said glumly.
"Well, I can get by on my own.
Just drop me off somewhere."

"No, we're not throwing you out,"
Kay said. "We'll help you find
a place that actually suits you."

"We have plenty of friends,"
said Alex. "What would you like?"

"I don't know, somewhere ... quiet?"
said Juan Carlos. "El barrio is noisy
and dangerous. I do all right, I have
ways of making people ignore me,
but it's still a pretty rough place."

"Hmm, I may have an idea,"
Ash said. "Do you like girls yet,
or boys, or anything like that?"

Juan Carlos wrinkled his nose.
"I don't really like people much,"
he said. "Most chicos my age,
they started liking girls a year
or two ago. Me, not so much."

"Well, that's all right; Alex and I
feel much the same," said Ash.
"There's a place we like, called
the Alpha Vector, where that's
pretty common. It's a safe and
quiet place. We could take you
there to stay with some friends."

"We'd leave you a way to get
in touch with us, in case it doesn't
fit you after all," Alex added. "For now,
I agree that it's a promising option."

"We swing by there fairly often
to visit too," said Ash. "Kay and
the others come sometimes, but
Alex and I enjoy it enough to be
regulars there. It's a favorite."

"Then yeah," said Juan Carlos.
"That sounds like it's worth a try."

"I'll get you a go-bag while Alex
and Ash set the coordinates,"
said Kay. "You'll need clothes
and personal items, at least."

"Thanks," he said softly.

It took a few hours to get
everything together, including
appropriate supplies for a trip,
messages to find a good place
for Juan Carlos to stay, and
the necessary coordinates.

"You're pretty calm about
all this," Kay remarked.

"I've seen some weird shit,"
Juan Carlos said with a shrug.
"This time, it might work out in
my favor, so I'm smooth with it."

"We're all set," Alex announced.
"Ready for your next adventure?"

"I'm ready," Juan Carlos said
as he lifted his new go-bag.

Alex activated the Tef, and they
stepped into the Alpha Vector.

It was quieter, calmer on
the other side even in town.
There was traffic, but it never
seemed as frenetic as their own.

The neighborhood was sunny
and cheerful even in winter.

The house was blue with
yellow trim on the windows.

"Matija is a friend of ours. Ey
immigrated from Slovenia, so
ey understands what it's like
to be alone in a strange place,"
Alex said. "Ey offered to let
you stay as long as you want."

She knocked on the door,
and opened almost at once.

"Aleks, Aljoša, Kaja, it's
so good to see you again,
my friends!" said Matija.
"Who's my new friend?"

"This is Juan Carlos,"
Alex said as she
nudged him forward.

"Janez Karlo, welcome
home," said Matija.

"Thanks," the boy said.
"Um ... why did you offer
to take me in like this?"

"Vedriti," said Matija.
"It means, come in from
the rain, take shelter."

Juan Carlos shrugged
in his damp coat. "It was
raining when I left home,
but it wasn't in Texas."

"A figure of speech,"
Matija said, waving
a hand. "Years ago,
people took me in and
helped me settle. Now
I can help you. Someday,
maybe you help another."

"Yeah," said Juan Carlos.
"I think I would like that."

Matija urged them all inside
to show off the little spare room
that would belong to Juan Carlos.

Alex, Ash, and Kay stayed for
supper and chatted with Matija,
catching up on the news.

Juan Carlos sat quietly,
taking it all in without a fuss.

"So, do you think that you
will be comfortable here?"
Alex asked before leaving.

Juan Carlos looked around
at the cozy house and smiled.

"Yeah, I really do," he said.
"Vedriti. I like that idea."

* * *

Notes:

This poem's notes appear separately.